Method of manufacturing interlocking members for sliding clasp fasteners



Dec. 13, 1949' ENGEL 2,490,864

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING INTERLOCKING MEMBERS FOR SLIDING CLASP FASTENERS Filed. March 19, 1947 FIG. 2

"IIIHIIIIII IN V EN TOR.

ERICH ENGEL Patented Dec. 13, 1949 UNITED STATES METHOD OF MANUFACTURING INTER- LOCKING MEMBERS FOR SLIDING CLASP FASTENERS Erich Engel; Tonteg, near Pontypridd, England,

assignor to Aero Zipp Fasteners Limited, London, England, a British company Application March 19, 1947, Serial No. 735,573

4 Claims. 1

This is a continuation in part of my copending application Serial #700,581. In the said copending application I disclose and claim a method of making elements or scoops for sliding clasp fasteners and of attaching the same to a tape or other flexible carrier. According to said method the following steps (some of which may be simultaneous) are carried out. First the heads of the elements are formed in a blank strip of stock, said heads are uniformly spaced and comprise each a projection and a mating recess. The strip is also cut along lines defining the contour of the elements, and the elements so defined are bent singly or in pluralities out of the plane of the strip to one side thereof while one or both legs of said elements remain attached at one or both sides to one or two uncut edge portions of the strip. Then either simultaneously or successively, the elements are separated from said edge portion or portions of the strip and are attached to a carrier tape either singly or in pluralities.

The general object of this invention is to provide a method of shaping the elements prepared from a strip of stock according to the above described method, and then severing said elements from the edge portions of the strip and attaching them to the tape or other flexible carrier. The advantages achieved by means of this invention are all those which have been set forth in my parent application hereinbefore identified, and

in addition this invention provides a particularly simple and eflicient method for separating the preformed fastener elements and attaching the same to a carrier either singly or in rows.

Other related and ancillary objects of the invention will clearly appear as the description proceeds.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a strip from which a number of elements have been formed and bent out of the plane of the strip.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the assembly of 'Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross section of the strip of Fig. 1 taken between two successive elements and illustrating a subsequent step of the operation.

Fig. 4 is a section similar to that of Fig. 3 but illustrating a still subsequent step of the operation.

Fig. 5 is a section of the strip of the preceding figure and of the carrier tape taken between two successive elements and illustrating a final stop of the operation, that is the attachment of the elements to the carrier tape.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the numeral it generally designates a strip of metal or other stock in which a number of uniformly spaced projections ll and mating recess l2 have been formed. The strip has also been cut to define a number of embryo elements generally elements as above.

indicated at I3, which elements have then been bent out of the plane of the strip at Said elements l3 comprise a head M in which the aforementioned projections and recess have been formed, and legs l5. In cutting the embryo elements, the head of one element is formed by material comprised between the legs of an adjacent element, so that the elements are defined by a series of parallel uniformly spaced cuts and there is no waste therebetween. Numeral l6 schematically indicates a suitable tool which has a vertically reciprocating motion in synchronism with the stepwise advancement of the strip I 0, which tool bends the embryo elements l3 out of the plane of the strip, or alternatively both cuts the strip to define said elements and bends the After the embryo elements have so been formed and bent, they remain interconnected by edge portions ll of the strip. In the appended drawings the elements are shown as being interconnected at both sides, and there are therefore two opposite edge portions ll, but as set forth in my aforementioned parent application, they can be interconnected only at one side by a single edge portion. Also as set forth in said parent application the elements can be bent out of the plane of the strip not by 90, as shown in the instant drawings, but by a different angle, if desired.

A mandrel-like tool l8 having a suitably shaped head I9 is then introduced, in a subsequent step of the method, between the legs l5 of a member 83. Subsequently two cooperating tools 20 having sharp edges 2 l, which tools are schematically indicated in the drawings, are moved from the outside towards the leg portions l5 of the element, which are disclosed herein as substantially straight, engaging the said leg portions and bending them around the head i 9 of the mandrel-like tool IE to give said legs predetermined arcuate converging shapes, and finally produce in the outside portions of said legs, indentations 22 at the point where the elements will be cut from the remaining portions of the strip. The cutting tools 20 have a reciprocating motion; they are therefore subsequently moved away from the bent element is and the strip is displaced forward by one step to repeat the aforementioned operations. In the foregoing it has been assumed that each embryo element It is processed separately by the tools 20, which is a possible way of carrying out the method. It will be however also possible to process several of the members or even all the members of a strip simultaneously by providing tools 20 and I8 having substantially the shape of ledges extending across a suitable length or the whole length of the strip so as to act on a number of or all'of the embryo elements I3 simultaneously in the same manner as hereinbefore set forth.

After the completion of the above steps the embryo elements I3 are still attached to the edge portions I! of the strip. While still so interconnected, they are placed upon a tape 23 which is guided in a suitable portion 24 of the machine used for carrying out this method, which tape 23 has a beaded edge 25 exposed in a position where it can be straddled by the legs of the elements l3. Clamping tools 26 are provided at each side of the elements I3, and preferably extend along the entire length of the assembly of embryo elements [3 with their interconnecting portions of the strip Hi. In a final step of the operation said clamping tools 26 are moved towards each other and tightly clamp the legs l5 of the elements I3 around the beaded edge '25 of the tape, while their sharp edges 21 cooperate with the edges 29 of the portion 24 to cause the legs l5 of the elements to break on from the edge portions I! of the strip at the point where indentation 22 had been previously produced. In this manner a number of elements are attached to the tape or other flexible carrier, and a length of complete slide fastener chain is thereby produced.

While I have described one particular embodiment of my invention by way of illustration and with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that many modifications, changes and adaptations can be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A method of making stringers for sliding clasp fasteners comprising the steps of cutting the contour of fastener elements in longitudinal alignment into a strip of material intermediate the edges of the strip so that the head of one element is formed by the material between the legs of an adjacent element and so that at least one leg of each element remains connected to one of the edges defining the remainder of the strip, subsequently separably displacing the cut portion of the elements out of the plane of the strip at one face thereof into parallelism normal to the remainder of the strip to produce a row of equally spaced elements carried by the remainder of the strip, bending the legs of the elements'to predetermined arcuate shapes, causing the elements to straddle the edge of a flexible carrier member, clamping the elements on said carrier member, and detaching them from the remainder of the s rip.

2. A method of making stringers for sliding clasp fasteners comprising the steps of cutting the contour of fastener elements in longitudinal alignment into a strip of material intermediate the edges of the strip so that the head of one element is formed by the material between the legs of an adjacent element and so that at least one leg of each element remains connected to one of the edges defining the remainder of the strip, subsequently separably displacing the cut portion of the elements out of the plane of the strip at one face thereof into parallelism normal to the remainder of the strip to produce a row of equally spaced elements carried by the remainder of the strip bending the legs of the elements to predetermined arcuate shapes and concurrently producing an invitation in said legs at the point where the same are to be severed from the remainder of the strip, thereafter causing the elements to straddle the edge of a flexible carrier member, clamping the elements on said carrier member, and severing the legs of the elements from the remainder of the strip.

3. A method of making stringers for sliding clasp fasteners comprising the steps of cutting the contour of fastener elements in longitudinal alignment into.a strip of material intermediate the edges of the strip so that the head of one element is formed by the material between the legs of an adjacent element and so that at least one leg of each element remains connected to one of the edges defining the remainder of the strip, subsequently separably displacing the cut portion of the elements out of the plane of the strip at one face thereof into parallelism normal to the remainder of the strip to produce a row of elements carried by the remainder of the strip, placing a suitably contoured anvil member between the legs of the equally spaced elements, bending the legs of the elements to conform to the contour of said anvil member, and concurrently producing an indentation in said legs at the points where said legs are to be severed from the remainder of the strip, thereafter causing the elements to straddle the edge of a flexible carrier member, clamping the elements on said carrier member, and severing the legs of the elements from the remainder of the strip.

4. A method of making stringers for sliding clasp fasteners comprising the steps of cutting in longitudinal alignment into a strip of material intermediate the edges of the strip the contour of fastener elements embodying a head and two substantially straight legs so that these latter remain connected to the edges defining the remainder of the strip, the head of one element being formed by the material between the legs, of an adjacent element, subsequently separably ERICH ENGEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,731,667 Johnson Oct. 15, 1929 2,030,895 Quisling Feb. 18, 1936 2,051,574 Quisling Aug. 18, 1936 2,071,603 Winterhalter Feb. 23, 1937 2,078,017 Poux Apr. 20, 1937 2,221,411 Quisling Nov. 12, 1940 2,242,794 Puschner et al. May 20, 1941 2,252,305 Puschner et a1 Aug. 12, 1941 2,275,454 Miller Mar. 10, 1942 2,299,606 Wintritz Oct. 20, 1942 2,343,827 Beckwith et al. Mar. 7, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 8,308 Australia Nov. 17, 1932 559,454 Great Britain Feb. 21, 1944 653,037

France Oct. 3, 1928 

